State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

sustainable development18

  • How to Rethink Urban Transit, and Pay for It, Too

    How to Rethink Urban Transit, and Pay for It, Too

    “We have conflated mobility with access, but mobility is not the same as access. The best solution to a transportation problem is to not have to travel. The city itself was invented as a solution to a transportation problem. We have cities so we don’t have to travel.”

  • Fossil Fuel Companies Need to Become Renewable Energy Companies

    No one should underestimate the scale of the challenge that confronts humanity. It will require new technologies and changes in infrastructure, organizational capacity, economic incentives and public policy.

  • Climate Change and the Paris Agreement: What’s Next?

    Climate Change and the Paris Agreement: What’s Next?

    “Climate change is an extreme example of what happens when you do not have sustainable development. We will not address climate change unless we change the patterns of production and consumption that drove us to this situation in the first place.”

  • Philanthropy and Inequality

    Philanthropy and Inequality

    In the field of philanthropy, foundations have been confronted with how to address structural racism and various forms of systemic inequities. How can foundations play a greater role in reducing racial disparities, promoting criminal justice reform, and tackling any range of manifestations of inequality?

  • Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Two decades after arsenic was found to be contaminating drinking water across Bangladesh, tens of millions of people are still exposed to the deadly chemical. Now a new report from the group Human Rights Watch charges that the Bangladesh government “is failing to adequately respond” to the issue, and that political favoritism and neglect have…

  • Does Pollution Regulation Kill Jobs? Lessons for China from the U.S.

    Does Pollution Regulation Kill Jobs? Lessons for China from the U.S.

    The problem of air pollution in China continues to reach new heights. To combat the problem in any real way stringent regulation is needed. A new paper from Columbia University’s Earth Institute finds that this can be done without hurting job creation.

  • Moving the Global Economy Toward Sustainability

    Using something finite and dumping it into a hole in the ground is less efficient and more costly than a system build on photosynthesis, renewable resources, and reuse of finite resources. In other words, an organization managed according to the principles of sustainability should be able to outcompete the organization sticking to the old, polluting…

  • Filling a Climate Gap and Helping Rwandan Farmers

    Filling a Climate Gap and Helping Rwandan Farmers

    Agriculture makes up a major portion of Rwanda’s economy, and employs eight in 10 Rwandans. Of course, farmers are hugely dependent on the climate, and a new project hopes to ensure they get timely information so they can plan for both good times and bad.

  • Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most?

    Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most?

    A study out yesterday says that the lives of up to 13 million people in the United States may be disrupted by sea-level rise in the next century. But another study says that while much hard infrastructure like houses, piers, seawalls and roads may have to be kissed goodbye, some 70 percent of natural landforms…

Overhead view of Columbia campus with text Columbia Climate School Class Day 2026: Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School Class of 2026 and all of our 2026 Columbia University graduates! Learn more about our May 15 Climate School Class Day celebration. 💙 #Columbia2026 #ColumbiaClimate2026

  • How to Rethink Urban Transit, and Pay for It, Too

    How to Rethink Urban Transit, and Pay for It, Too

    “We have conflated mobility with access, but mobility is not the same as access. The best solution to a transportation problem is to not have to travel. The city itself was invented as a solution to a transportation problem. We have cities so we don’t have to travel.”

  • Fossil Fuel Companies Need to Become Renewable Energy Companies

    No one should underestimate the scale of the challenge that confronts humanity. It will require new technologies and changes in infrastructure, organizational capacity, economic incentives and public policy.

  • Climate Change and the Paris Agreement: What’s Next?

    Climate Change and the Paris Agreement: What’s Next?

    “Climate change is an extreme example of what happens when you do not have sustainable development. We will not address climate change unless we change the patterns of production and consumption that drove us to this situation in the first place.”

  • Philanthropy and Inequality

    Philanthropy and Inequality

    In the field of philanthropy, foundations have been confronted with how to address structural racism and various forms of systemic inequities. How can foundations play a greater role in reducing racial disparities, promoting criminal justice reform, and tackling any range of manifestations of inequality?

  • Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Two decades after arsenic was found to be contaminating drinking water across Bangladesh, tens of millions of people are still exposed to the deadly chemical. Now a new report from the group Human Rights Watch charges that the Bangladesh government “is failing to adequately respond” to the issue, and that political favoritism and neglect have…

  • Does Pollution Regulation Kill Jobs? Lessons for China from the U.S.

    Does Pollution Regulation Kill Jobs? Lessons for China from the U.S.

    The problem of air pollution in China continues to reach new heights. To combat the problem in any real way stringent regulation is needed. A new paper from Columbia University’s Earth Institute finds that this can be done without hurting job creation.

  • Moving the Global Economy Toward Sustainability

    Using something finite and dumping it into a hole in the ground is less efficient and more costly than a system build on photosynthesis, renewable resources, and reuse of finite resources. In other words, an organization managed according to the principles of sustainability should be able to outcompete the organization sticking to the old, polluting…

  • Filling a Climate Gap and Helping Rwandan Farmers

    Filling a Climate Gap and Helping Rwandan Farmers

    Agriculture makes up a major portion of Rwanda’s economy, and employs eight in 10 Rwandans. Of course, farmers are hugely dependent on the climate, and a new project hopes to ensure they get timely information so they can plan for both good times and bad.

  • Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most?

    Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most?

    A study out yesterday says that the lives of up to 13 million people in the United States may be disrupted by sea-level rise in the next century. But another study says that while much hard infrastructure like houses, piers, seawalls and roads may have to be kissed goodbye, some 70 percent of natural landforms…